Radio technologies in cellular communications have grown rapidly and evolved since the launch of analog cellular systems in the 1980s, starting from the first generation (1G) in the 1980s, second generation (2G) in the 1990s, third generation (3G) in the 2000s, and fourth generation (4G) in the 2010s (comprising variants of long term evolution (LTE) such as time division LTE (TD-LTE), frequency division duplex LTE (FDD-LTE), advanced extended global platform (AXGP), LTE advanced (LTE-A), and TD-LTE advanced (TD-LTE-A) and other releases). The amount of traffic in cellular networks has experienced a tremendous amount of growth and expansion, and there are no indications that such growth will decelerate. It is expected that this growth will include use of the network not only by humans, but also by an increasing number of machines that communicate with each other, for example, surveillance cameras, smart electrical grids, sensors, home appliances and other technologies in connected homes, and intelligent transportation systems (e.g., the Internet of Things (IOT)). Additional technological growth comprises 4K video, augmented reality, cloud computing, industrial automation, and voice to voice (V2V) communications.
Consequently, advancements in future networks are driven by the need to provide and account for massive connectivity and volume, expanded throughput and capacity, and ultra-low latency. Fifth generation (5G) access networks, which can also be referred to as New Radio (NR) access networks, are currently being developed and are expected to handle a very wide range of use cases and requirements, comprising, among others, mobile broadband (MBB) and machine type communications (e.g., involving IOT devices). For mobile broadband, 5G wireless communication networks are expected to fulfill the demand of exponentially increasing data traffic and to allow people and machines to enjoy gigabit data rates with virtually zero latency. Compared to existing fourth generation (4G) technologies, such as long-term evolution (LTE) networks and advanced LTE networks, 5G provides better speeds and coverage than the existing 4G network, targeting much higher throughput with low latency and utilizing higher carrier frequencies (e.g., higher than 6 gigahertz (Ghz)) and wider bandwidths. A 5G network also increases network expandability up to hundreds of thousands of connections.
The present patent application provides for a very flexible and adaptable MIMO framework for 5G systems that can be adapted for use for both mmWave (>6 GHz) as well as for sub 6 GHz, thereby providing a unified framework for all 5G systems.
The above-described background relating to wireless networks is merely intended to provide a contextual overview of some current issues, and is not intended to be exhaustive. Other contextual information may become further apparent upon review of the following detailed description.